JP2002308435A - Method of empty container management - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To grasp and manage the place where an empty container is kept when collecting the empty container used for shipment after shipping a product to a user by a product supplier. SOLUTION: This method of empty container management grasps the number of containers after taking out the products contained in the containers in a product distribution system to distribute the products contained in specified containers through a computer network.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a distribution system in which a product is put in a predetermined container and the product is moved in units of the container, and the number of empty containers after taking out the product is determined through a computer network. It relates to an empty container management method for grasping.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, when a product is shipped to a delivery destination user, the product is loaded on a pallet or the like (hereinafter, referred to as a "container") and a plurality of products are transferred together. That is usually done. After removing the product from the container, the product provider collects the container for reuse.

However, empty containers (hereinafter referred to as "empty containers") often have a remarkably small volume as compared with the time of product shipment, so that a plurality of empty containers can be transferred together. Therefore, it is not economically preferable to collect empty containers every time an empty container is generated. On the other hand, empty containers are originally to be returned to the product provider.However, empty containers are usually kept at the user's hand for a while from delivery to the user until they are used and empty containers. It was difficult to find out how much the department had.

It is a rule that the department to which the product is delivered is the same as the department where the empty containers are generated. In many cases, however, the two departments are different from each other. The situation became complicated, and it was difficult to grasp which department had how many empty containers. Therefore, the present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned circumstances, and when a product provider ships a product to a user and collects an empty container used at the time of the shipment, the location of the empty container is determined. It is an object of the present invention to provide an empty container management method capable of grasping and managing the contents.

[0005]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, an empty container management method according to the present invention is applied to a distribution system in which a product is put in a predetermined container and the product is moved in units of the container. The number of empty containers after taking out the product, in the empty container management method for grasping through a computer network, in each department in the distribution system,
An input step for prompting each of the departments involved in taking in and out of the empty containers specified in advance using the own terminal connected to the computer network to input information on the transfer and inventory of the empty containers, and Via the computer network to the management server connected to the computer network, and prompting the management server based on the information from each section input in the transmission step. And a totaling step of totalizing the number of empty containers transferred and the number of empty containers held by each department.

[0006] Further, the section specified in advance is such that when the first section receiving the product transfers the product together with the container to a second section different from that section, and the second section discharges empty containers, the first section receives the product. It is preferable that the division and the second division are specified as one division. Further, each of the departments is a factory department for shipping products, and receives a product shipped from the factory department, stores the received product, and ships the product to a subsequent department. It is preferable that at least a warehouse section for shipping the collected empty containers to the factory and a user section to which the product is delivered are provided.

In the empty container management method, a department in a distribution system involved in empty container loading and unloading is specified in advance by the management server. The department includes, for example, at least a factory department, a warehouse department, and a user department. In addition, a storage / repair warehouse department for temporarily storing and repairing damaged empty containers as needed may be included.

[0008] In the input stage, the department specified as described above operates its own terminal to operate an empty container handled for a predetermined period according to each department, for example, one day, one week, one month, and six months. Enter the number of In the transmission stage, an operation of transmitting the information input in the input stage to the management server through the network is performed. Specifically, a “send button” is provided on the information input screen, and when the “send button” is selected and input, the input information is sent to the management server via the network. .

In the totaling step, the number of empty containers transferred in each department and the number of empty containers held in each department are totaled by the management server based on the transmitted information. In addition, this management server includes, for example, production, sales, inventory, purchasing, logistics,
It is preferable that the server operate a basic information processing system that processes basic information such as accounting and personnel affairs. According to the empty container management method having such a configuration, each department handling empty containers inputs the number of empty containers involved in storage and retrieval to its own terminal, and transmits the input data to the management server. By compiling the data transmitted from each section in the management server, the stock of empty containers can be easily grasped even in each section which has been difficult to grasp conventionally.

[0010] Further, in the case where the department for receiving products is different from the department for unloading empty containers, these departments are specified as one department in advance, so that the complicated state of empty containers can be obtained. Simplification can be achieved, and as a result, even in such a case, it is easy to grasp the stock of empty containers.

[0011]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, an empty container management method according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. In the empty container management method, the product is put into a predetermined container, and in a distribution system that moves the product in units of the container, the number of empty containers after taking out the product is grasped through a computer network. This is an empty container management method.

More specifically, as shown in FIG. 1, in each section in the distribution system, information relating to the transfer and inventory of empty containers is sent to each of the sections involved in loading and unloading of empty containers specified in advance. Step S, which is an input stage for prompting input using its own terminal connected to the computer network
10, a step S20 as a transmission step for prompting the information input in the input step to be transmitted to the management server connected to the computer network via the computer network, and the respective sections input in the transmission step And step S30 in which the management server totals the number of empty containers transferred in each section and the number of empty containers held by the management server based on the information from the server.

In order to manage the stock of empty containers, the departments involved in empty container loading and unloading are registered in advance. In the following, the departments involved in loading and unloading empty containers in the product distribution system will be described. FIG. 2 schematically shows an example of a distribution system. In FIG. 2, the flow of product shipment is indicated by solid arrows.
In addition, the flow of empty containers in and out is indicated by broken arrows.

As shown in FIG. 2, the products manufactured in the factory 10 are once stored in a warehouse 12 and shipped from the warehouse 12 to a trader warehouse 14 or a user 16. Warehouse 12
Indicates a so-called “own warehouse” in which products shipped from the factory 10 are stored, or a warehouse that entrusts storage of products shipped from the factory 10 to a warehouse company. In addition, trader warehouse 1
Reference numeral 4 denotes a warehouse that stores products with the user 16 as a business. For example, when the distance between the warehouse 12 and the user 16 is large, the dealer warehouse 14 is located close to the location of the user 16 in order to respond to a sudden request from the user 16 based on past product purchase results. Store products that are likely to have some demand in advance.

The user 16 is an actual product delivery destination,
Consuming products. Products to the user 16 are stored in the warehouse 12
And from the warehouse 14 respectively. Here, when the product is shipped, the product is packed in a file wrapper, and is not shipped alone, and a plurality of the file wrappers are shipped together. At this time, to facilitate the transfer of the wrapper,
The wrapper is placed on a container such as a pallet and transported together with the container. Therefore, the container is finally transported to the user 16 who receives the product, and a container that has been emptied after removing the product (hereinafter, referred to as an “empty container”) occurs in the user 16.

On the other hand, empty containers generated by the user 16 are discharged directly to the warehouse 12 or via the trader warehouse 14. In the warehouse 12, the empty containers that have entered are returned to the factory 10, the state of the empty containers is checked, and empty containers requiring repair are sent to the storage / repair warehouse 18. The storage / repair warehouse 18 repairs the sent empty containers and returns the repaired empty containers to the warehouse 12. The repaired empty container is sent from the warehouse 12 to the factory 10.

In such a distribution system, the departments involved in loading and unloading empty containers are a factory 10, a warehouse 12, a trader warehouse 14, a user 16, and a storage / repair warehouse 18. Therefore, the departments to be registered in advance include the departments as shown in FIG. 2 and a transport company (not shown if necessary) involved in the product transfer of each department.

In the user 16, the first department receiving the product transfers the product together with the container to a second department different from the department, and the second department unloads empty containers in many cases. In this case, it is preferable that the first section and the second section are grouped and specified as one section.
For example, as shown in FIG. 3A, a product is delivered to the delivery destination 62 as the first section, for example, from the warehouse 12 in FIG. The delivery destination 62 transfers the product to a destination 64 where the product is actually used. At the point of use 64, empty containers are generated, and the empty containers are returned to the warehouse 12, for example.

In this case, in the conventional management method,
Since the product is delivered to the delivery destination 62, the empty containers are naturally expected to be returned from the delivery destination 62. However, since the empty containers are actually returned from the use destination 64 which is a different department from the delivery destination 62, It was necessary to correct the entry / exit record of empty containers. Therefore, in the embodiment of the empty container management method, the delivery destination 62 and the use destination 64 are assigned to one representative user 1.
7 is registered. In this way, when the flow of the container is grasped from the management side, the container is transported to the representative user 17 together with the product, and the empty container is returned from the same representative user 17, and correction of the warehouse record and the like is performed. It is possible to accurately grasp the location of the empty container without requiring excessive trouble.

In FIG. 3B, the product is delivered to the first delivery destination 66 as the first department, where an empty container is generated, and the empty container is sent to the second delivery destination 68. , The empty container generated by itself from the second destination 68 and the empty container sent from the first destination 66 together, for example, the warehouse 1
2 is shown. In this case, the first destination 6
6 and the second delivery destination 68 are registered as one representative user 17, so that when the management side grasps the flow of the container, the container is transported to the representative user 17 together with the product, and the empty container is the same representative user. 17 is returned, so that the location of the empty container can be accurately grasped without requiring excessive labor such as correction of the entry / exit record.

FIG. 3C shows a case where the delivery destination 62 is a user who consumes a large amount of products, and a user who uses the trader warehouse 14 exclusively for the delivery destination 62. In this case, the product shipped to the trader warehouse 14 as the first section is conveyed by a required amount to the delivery destination 62 as the second section when necessary. On the other hand, empty containers generated at the delivery destination 62 are always returned to the warehouse 12 via the trader warehouse 14. Therefore, also in this case, by registering the trader warehouse 14 and the delivery destination 62 as one representative user 17, data processing relating to the flow of empty containers is simplified.

In step S10, the factory 10, warehouse 12, trader warehouse 14, user 16 and storage / repair warehouse 18 use their own terminals for emptying and warehousing during a predetermined period according to each department. Enter the number of containers correctly. For example, at the terminal of the factory 10, an empty container to be provided at the time of production of a product in the factory and a stock quantity are appropriately input.

At the terminal of the warehouse 12, the empty containers transferred to other warehouses, the empty containers returned to the factory, and the empty containers related to the entry / exit to / from the storage / repair warehouse 18 as required. Is input for each predetermined period. Ideally, the values entered should be accurate, but if the number of empty containers in the input data does not match the actual number of empty containers, clarify the reason for the mismatch, if necessary, and Number correction is performed appropriately.

At the terminal of the trader's warehouse 14, the number handled is input each time there is an entry / exit, such as collection and transfer of empty containers. Ideally, the number entered is an accurate value, but if the number of empty containers in stock on the input data does not match the actual number of empty containers, clarify the reason for the mismatch, if necessary, Make sure you enter the correct stock quantity.

In the terminal of the user 16,
The inventory of the container from which the product has not been taken out and the inventory of the empty container from which the product has been taken out are confirmed at predetermined intervals, for example, once a month, once every six months, and converted into the number of empty containers and input. The data input by the user may be transmitted in advance from the user side to the management side by facsimile, telephone, or the like, and may be performed on behalf of the administrator side.

In the storage / repair warehouse 18, the appearance of the empty container is checked, repair or discard is determined, and repair is performed if necessary. In response to this operation, the terminal inputs the number of empty containers related to repair, disposal and transfer. In addition, when the stock does not match monthly or yearly, the reason for the mismatch is clarified, and the stock quantity is corrected.

In the carrier, the number of empty containers involved in the transfer is input each time the transfer is performed. Step S2
At 0, each terminal performs a predetermined operation, and transmits the input data to the management server through a predetermined network. In the data input and transmission operations in steps S10 and S20, for example, a screen for prompting data input (hereinafter, referred to as “input screen”) is transmitted from the management server to each terminal, and each terminal transmits data according to the input screen. Make the input. The input screen is provided with a “send button” at a predetermined position, and when there is a selection input of the send button, data input according to the input screen is transmitted to the management server via the predetermined network. Set to send.

In step S30, the data transmitted in step S20 is tabulated to determine how many empty containers have been transferred from which department to which department, and how many empty containers exist in which department. . In the tabulation process, the number of containers shipped is obtained based on the input data from the factory 10, the warehouse 12, and the trader warehouse 14. Further, when the delivery destination includes the representative delivery destination, the total is counted to the representative user 17.

In this product shipment result, the number of containers actually handled in each department can be input, and this number may be used as the actual result, or the product shipment such as the weight or the number of the actually shipped product may be performed. Based on the actual results, the number of containers used for shipping may be calculated and calculated based on predetermined master data registered in advance. Examples of the predetermined master data include master data such as a product name packaging form master as shown in FIG. 4 and a container use packaging form master as shown in FIG.

FIG. 4 shows an example of a product name packaging form master as master data for specifying the packaging form of a predetermined product at a predetermined weight. In FIG. 4, the item name packaging form master includes “item name” indicating the type of data (or code) used unifiedly in the distribution system, “type” indicating the type of data, and “data” indicating the size of the data. Long ".

In the item name packaging form master, “item name” includes at least an article name code for specifying a product, a packaging form code indicating a transport packaging form for transferring the product, and a weight of a transfer unit. Includes the indicated unit weight data. In the “type”, “CHAR” indicates character data, “NUM” indicates numeric data, and “DAT”
"E" indicates date data.

FIG. 5 shows an example of a container use packaging form master for defining what container is used in a predetermined packaging form. In FIG. 5, similarly to FIG. 4, the container use / packaging mode master includes “item name” indicating the type of data (or code), “type” indicating the type of data, and data At least the “data length” indicating the size of the data.

In this container use packaging form master,
The “item name” includes at least a packaging form code for specifying the packaging form and a container code for specifying the shape of the container. If the products to be ordered for each delivery destination are determined in advance, the delivery destination code for identifying this delivery destination, the product name code for identifying the product to be shipped to the delivery destination, and, if necessary, the A delivery destination product name master including at least a packaging form code indicating the designated packaging form may be provided as master data.

Such a delivery destination name master includes, for example, data as shown in FIG. By using the master data shown in FIGS. 4 to 6, the product specified by the product name code specified in the delivery destination product name master in FIG. 6 can be used as the product name packaging form master in FIG. Is shipped to the delivery destination specified by the delivery destination code in the delivery destination product name master, with the packaging type specified by the packaging type code extracted from the product and the quantity specified by the quantity unit code. By extracting the container code from the container use packaging form master of FIG. 5 using the packaging form code as a keyword, a container for transferring the product in this packaging form is specified.

In addition, as required, a delivery destination master indicating a delivery destination (FIG. 7), a representative delivery destination master relating to the representative user specified by the above-described grouping (FIG. 8).
And the like may be provided. In the tabulation process, the number of containers obtained by using the master data as described above, the number of containers handled in each section input in step S10, and the like, are used to receive containers as shown in FIG. Container receipt / payment data related to payment and container stock data indicating stock for each section as shown in FIG. 10 are created, and these data are stored in a predetermined database.

FIG. 11 shows an embodiment of a system for managing empty containers in a distribution system as shown in FIG.
In FIG. 11, a warehouse terminal 2 installed in the warehouse 12
9 and a repair station 27 installed in the storage / repair warehouse 18 are connected to a predetermined network, for example, a LAN (local).
area network) 40, and a warehouse terminal 23 installed in the warehouse 14, a user terminal 21 installed in the user 16 and a carrier terminal 25 installed in the carrier are provided in a predetermined network, for example. It is connected to a management server 52 via the Internet 30.

Since the warehouse 12 and the storage / repair warehouse 18 are often operated by an operator of the management server 52, the warehouse terminal 29 and the repair place terminal 27 which are terminals of each department are connected. LAN4 such as in-house LAN
However, these terminals may be connected to the management server 52 via the Internet.

The department input from each of the terminals 21 to 29 registers in advance the master data such as the delivery destination master as shown in FIG. 7 in the management server in order for the management server 52 to recognize the corresponding department. Keep it. In addition, the management server 52 determines which container to use when transferring a predetermined product by a predetermined weight to the factory 10 based on the master data as shown in FIGS. I will tell you. If necessary, when the representative user is specified, the representative user is registered in a representative delivery destination master as shown in FIG.

The master data is stored in a database 54 connected to the management server 52 in FIG.
To be stored. According to FIG. 11, the terminals 21 to 29 enter the number of containers handled in each department as described above (step S10) and transmit them to the management server 52 (step S20).

On the other hand, the management server 52 performs a predetermined tallying process using the transmitted data (step S3).
0), as described above, container receipt / payment data as shown in FIG. 9 and container inventory data as shown in FIG.
To accumulate. If the customer has a representative customer,
The total is counted for the representative user 17.

Further, the management server 52 grasps the stock of empty containers and prepares a collection plan for empty containers. In this preparation plan, for example, priority is given to collection from a department with a large stock, and collection from a department with a small stock is carried out efficiently for each district where the department is located or on a predetermined transportation route. It is intended to be. Thus, by grasping the accurate empty container inventory in each department, it is possible to make an efficient collection plan, and it is possible to reduce the cost of transporting empty containers. In addition, the carrier is instructed to collect empty containers in accordance with the collection plan.

Further, the management server 52 creates a stock receipt / payout transition table for each section based on the empty container stock data for each section. This inventory receipt and payment table
It is effectively used as management data. Further, in the management server 52, based on the empty container inventory data in each department, a transition table is created for the ratio of the number of empty containers collected to the number of containers shipped at the time of product delivery. In this way, if the collection rate of empty containers is poor, the cause, that is, the department in which the empty containers stay, is investigated to improve the collection rate. It will also improve the collection rate for each department, but ultimately improve the overall collection rate for empty containers.

The management server 52 calculates the total container inventory by summing the empty container inventory and the containers at the time of product shipment. As a result, it is possible to cooperate with other systems such as fixed cost depreciation calculation, for example, to develop a depreciation of national assets, a container purchase plan, and the like. The management server 5
Each analysis using the container inventory data obtained in each section in 2 may be performed by an external computer system (EUC system: end user computing system) different from the management server 52.

As described above, according to the embodiment of the empty container management method according to the present invention having the above-described configuration, each department handling the empty containers notifies its own department of the number of empty containers involved in loading and unloading. By inputting the data to the terminal, transmitting the input data to the management server, and summing up the data transmitted from each department in the management server, even in each department, which was difficult to grasp in the past, Inventory can be easily grasped.

When the department for receiving products is different from the department for unloading empty containers, these departments are grouped as one department, and this group is specified in advance, thereby increasing the complexity of empty departments. The location state of the container can be simplified, and as a result, even in such a case, it is easy to grasp the stock of the empty container. It should be noted that the present invention is not limited to the items described above,
It goes without saying that changes can be made without departing from the effects.

[0046]

According to the empty container management method of the present invention,
After a product provider has shipped a product to a user, it is possible to grasp and manage the location of the empty container when collecting empty containers used at the time of shipping.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a flowchart illustrating one embodiment of an empty container management method according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a physical distribution system in the embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram for explaining an embodiment in which a plurality of departments are grouped in the empty container management method.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of product name packaging form master data used in the embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a view showing an example of container use packaging form master data used in the embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an example of delivery destination product name master data used in the embodiment.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an example of delivery destination master data used in the embodiment.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing an example of representative delivery destination master data used in the embodiment.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing an example of container receipt / payment data created in the embodiment.

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example of container inventory data created in the embodiment.

FIG. 11 is a block diagram showing a system for realizing the embodiment.

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. An empty container for grasping, via a computer network, the number of empty containers after taking out the product in a distribution system in which the product is put in a predetermined container and the product is moved in units of the container. In the management method, in each section in the distribution system, in each section involved in the storage and retrieval of empty containers specified in advance, using its own terminal connected to the computer network information on the transfer and inventory of empty containers An input step for prompting an input, a transmitting step for prompting the information input in the input step to be transmitted to the management server connected to the computer network via the computer network, and each section input in the transmitting step Based on the information from, the management server counts the number of empty containers transferred in each department and the number of empty containers held by each department. An empty container management method, comprising: 2. The pre-specified department, the first department receiving the product transfers the product together with the container to a second department different from the department, and the first department receives these empty containers when the second department unloads empty containers. The empty container management method according to claim 1, wherein the department and the second department are specified as one department. 3. Each of the departments receives a factory department for shipping a product, a product shipped from the factory department, stores the received product, and ships the product to a subsequent department. 2. The empty container management method according to claim 1, wherein the empty container management method comprises at least a warehouse section for shipping empty containers collected from the section to the factory, and a user section to which the product is delivered.